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Reviewed by Asher Syed for Readers' Favorite
The Dandelion Tree, Part One by A.S.R. Gelpi is the second book in the epic fantasy series The Dandelion Chronicles, preceded by book one, A Land of Shadows and Moss. In the first installment, twelve-year-old Princess Kharis is trapped in a palace, bound by fate as a rare child Djinnshirukh, a vessel for a fire demon. Unlike others, she had no choice. Her sister Saya helps keep her magic stable, but danger looms from an ambitious general. With Prince Rawiri’s aid, the girls may defy destiny and claim their freedom. Now in book two, twenty-year-old Kharis continues as the vessel for a deadly demon king, wielding immense power and battling uncontrollable rage. Feared for a past massacre, she clings to rare bonds with her sister and a gentle gardener. Determined to escape her fate, she risks resealment and death if her fury consumes her again.
“Destiny rarely asks for permission; it arrives dressed as duty and leaves with your heart.” The Dandelion Tree by A.S.R. Gelpi is a fantastic novel that harnesses its fantasy elements to the truly complicated emotions of guilt, grief, and love. Kharis is and has always been portrayed authentically, but her reconciling of trauma and the desire for redemption feels so much more strikingly real here. Gelpi dishes up a lot of moving pieces, from politicking to the overriding supernatural elements, and it doesn't get much better when they collide, namely through the political dynamics with Aghet, the looming presence of the Akumi king's magic, and “the Voice,” always urging Kharis to confront and communicate. They are also the very things that Gelpi dangles before us in a promise of what is to come. This building of suspense pumps up the plot, keeping us totally invested, and making me anxious for the release of part two.
